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Kinokuniya Haul

One of my guilty pleasures in life aside from games, figures and travel are books. Actually books were my first love. Since there weren’t many kids in our neighborhood at one point in my childhood, I had to rely on books to keep me from getting bored.

Sadly, you can’t find a single branch of Kinokuniya here in the Philippines, which is a pity because of the huge amount of artbooks and other materials. Due to this absence, I tend to splurge a lot in Kinokuniya whenever I visit Singapore (specifically the Takashimaya branch in Orchard Road).

This time, I think I may have bought a tad bit too much, there were also misses among these purchases ^^;;;

First up is the Ken Sugimori Works which came out this year. Really had good expectations on this one because he’s he main artist for Pokemon, and the volume of the artbook is really thick.

First up is the Ken Sugimori Works which came out this year. Really had good expectations on this one because he’s he main artist for Pokemon, and the volume of the artbook is really thick.

My biggest issue in this artbook is that 4/5ths of it are manga and not a collection of his works. Felt like a rip-off to me when i was checking it out. Good thing it was priced cheaper than your average artbook.

At least there was some art in here.

The 3DS version for Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire is coming out this November, anyone of you playing?

I also got the idolm@ster visual collection and i was hoping for lots of sketches and concept art.

Inside was a 40page book which totally didn’t look like a ‘collection’. Still thankful that it wasn’t as bad as the Ken Sugiyama works book though.

Aside from the 40page artbook, they also included a really big poster inside a box which pretty much made up 3/5 of the entire volume of this artbook. I should’ve noticed something strange based on the weight already @__@

Got myself an artbook for Kancolle. Has anyone played with ship musumes?

There are also sections within the book that act as a guide for the game. In my opinion I would rather have more talk sections of the creator than a guide since anyone can wiki them.

Up next we have the Santa Tsuji Art Works collection which features some of Santa Tsuji’s works that aren’t often seen (namely anything not Sonico lol). Santa Tsuji is one of the illustrators under Nitroplus who have done several hits like Demonbane, Steins;Gate and Super Sonico.

Also bought a God Eater artbook. I haven’t played the game to be honest but i loves Alisa’s character design to the point that I bought the Alphamax figure.

Also liked Nana Kazuki, but not enough for me to get a figure.

Finally we get some concept art. Really loved how the creators imagined the Aragami and I really appreciate these kinds of bestiary concept works.

Got two Aria books for a friend. The quality of the artbook is completely above the rest that I have or have seen so far. From presentation with the hard plastic cover, upto the paper. I don’t know what the paper is made of, but it felt a bit waxy and the colors really stood out.

Completely enjoyed the series, Hanasaku Iroha. One of PA Works better works along with True Tears and Nagi no Asukara.

They even have some of the storyboards included!

Along with sketches of the backgrounds!

This one was a no brainer. It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed an RPG from SquareEnix. Honestly I didn’t find the latest Final Fantasy amazing. Bravely Default really brought out what I loved about RPGs (except for the really grindy chapter 5-6, but hey that’s part of JRPGs). I can’t wait for the sequel!

In my opinion, this Senran Kagura Illustration book was perhaps the best find I got among the artbooks. There was almost no concept art, but the amount of illustrations found here was completely overwhelming.

Yes, overwhelming indeed. I will probably do a review of this next week since I’m loving this artbook way too much (almost as much as the Hanasaku Iroha artbook)

They even have illustrations already from Senran Kagura Burst.

Aside from artbooks, I decided to get some literature that comprised of 90% letters called: books. Got myself two books on Hayao Miyazaki and one about 3D printing which I find very educational. I do encourage everyone to buy a book from time to time and read (whether it be fiction or nonfiction).

Hope you guys enjoy Kinokuniya as much as I did if you do get the chance to pass by.

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3 thoughts on “Kinokuniya Haul”

That is one of my biggest regrets when going back to singapore last december! i didnt even buy one book… not one! must have been high or something because now im pissed looking at this as a reminder that I could have bought that ARIA or Hanasaku book… 🙁 maybe in the summer.. but huh kicking myself. Great collection and nice knowing that books were the first love because not maybe are.

Dude, Kinokuniya for me is the only place I spend my money on in Singapore, no Kino here in the Philippines. Books are normally my biggest priority since they occupy the least space in my luggage, but the trade off is the weight >.<